Generation C(arpool)? Gas Prices Make Teens Want to Share

The Natchez (Mississippi) Democrat has a simplistic-yet-interesting article, by way of the AP, about the effects of rising gas prices on teen driving habits.  Whereas most adults tend to think of a carpool as a workplace-oriented mode of transportation, it seems that the kids these days–because of gas prices–are carpooling to and from social activities and embracing it as a necessary part of affording to go out and do stuff (so to speak).

As 18-year-old Portia Washington (not to be confused with Port Washington (NY) explains, “we limit our outings to one or two cars…[.]“

Portia also shared her tactical approach to, er, spending less on gas: she fills her tank halfway so as to save a little coin for “a blouse or … a burger or a pizza…[.]“  Of course, the reporter didn’t ask Miss P-Dub what she might do when, say, she’s put the blouse on, consumed the burger (and/or pizza) and then realizes she’s out of gas because she only filled half the tank.  But perhaps P-Dub dips into her savings, as ever since gas hit $3 a gallon, she’s been charging her friends gas money for a Portia ride.

And then there’s the D-Train.  Derek Elsey, also 18 and a recent high school grad whose summer job has him (a) driving 60 miles a day back and forth in his ‘00 Mazda and (b) spending about $230 a month on gas.

Not cool.

‘‘It’s putting a strain on my paycheck,’’ Elsey said. ‘‘I’ve cut back on a lot of social activities.  …I haven’t shopped since I’ve been working. I’ve been saving and paying for gas…[.]  …I plan to walk a lot, and I’ll have to make cutbacks on a lot of social activities that require driving…[.]  …No more sightseeing.’’

No more sightseeing (until, perhaps, the Elsey Family Grand Canyon Vacation) but perhaps a lifelong commitment to a more responsible approach to personal transport?  Only time will tell if Portia and D-Train are part of Generation C.

Today’s Headlines

• New Jersey to $4!
• “Gas for sale, same price, cash or credit.”
• Mom-n-pop excited: will cost of gas create rural biz revival?
• Vegas to Cali gamblers: we miss you on the Strip, baby!
• Honk if you’re mad about gas prices. [Dept. of Ineffectiveness]
• This is gonna hurt: heating your home this winter.
• Ohio Fuel Beat: locality adding gas surcharge to speeding tickets?
• Empty seats at NASCAR attributed to cost of gas. [Irony Dept.]
• Of 10K new members per month at Zipcar, 40% cite fuel costs.
• Commuters: more on gas, less on other things.
• If gas on credit more $$$ than cash, put it on street sign.

Ten Writers Reflect on Life in the Age of Costly Fuel [NYT]

This was published last month, but it’s definitely worth checking out:

The Op-Ed page asked 10 writers to reflect on the consequences — unexpected, unnoticed, unrealized, good, bad or indifferent — of really expensive fuel.

Robert Reich calls fuel prices a regressive tax on the bottom half of the workforce.  Some guy writes off road trips as a great American pasttime.  A European perspective is shared.  And more.

Today’s Headlines

• Florida lottery runner-up prize: free gas for life.
• Paying more for gas, some stations are banning credit cards.
• Trout rejoice: anglers fishing less cause of gas prices.
• NYC cabbies want fuel surcharge; NYC sez not just yet.
• But Norfolk and Virginia Beach are hookin’ cabbies up.
• Fewer road projects cause of higher gas prices.
• Traveling nurses: we can’t afford to travel.
• G&C Story of the Day: the car-horse swap is on.
• Gas meets the press head on: newsrooms affected by rates.
• On off the road again: bands feel the pinch, travel less.
• Gas promotions are all the rage in advertising now.
• Pump politics: VA Sentate candidate stumps and pumps.
• Online enrollment trends up as students choose gas over class.
• Also trending up: sales of gas-saving products [No Sh!t Dept.].

Police Blotter: “Boyfriend” of Sex-for-Gas Prostitute Speaks! …But Apparently He Was Arrested With Her and the John!

Welcome to the second installment of the G&C Police Blotter.  We begin tonight (or this morning) in Kentucky, with word that the self-professed boyfriend of alleged sex-for-Speedway-gas-card prostitute Angela Eversole has spoken out on his lady’s arrest:

“She’s wrong for cheating on me, but that’s what she was doing, so far as that goes. She definitively isn’t a prostitute,” Anthony Schaffner tells the station.

Of course, the way Officer Mairose of the Fort Wright Police Department describes it, it sure sounds like Ms. Eversole made a hookeresque agreement with one Kenneth Nowak.

But now wait till you hear this: G&C just found an article which suggests that Anthony was in on the action.

Today’s Headlines

• Is suburban life as we know it threatened by the rising cost of gas?
• Have you driven a Schwinn late-ly? The car-bike swap is on.
• Hummers: cheaper than used to be; boats too. [Oh! Canada! Dept.]
• Conservative dude: GOP can use gas to defeat Obama, other Dems.
• Hodag Countryfest goers: gas prices won’t stop us! “You just do it.”
• Forget hurricane worries: gas in Bahamas nears $6/gallon!
• Gas prices drive up motorcycle sales in NOLA.
• First the staycation, now the “one-tank getaway.”
• Surfer dudes tell the AP: gas prices crimpin’ our style!
• Convenience stores losing money to cents-off gas deals at marts.
• High gas prices are good for the arts sez Utah festival honcho.
• Seeds of change: gardening on rise, as gas prices are too.
• Suburban life as we know it: not dead yet.
• Upside of high gas costs: less cars, speeding, deaths.
• But not so fast: experts say roads not necessarily safer.
• RVing couple: we’re down with $10K in a month on gas.
• GA Meals on Wheels: commitment outweighs cost of gas.
• Higher ed and gas prices: adjunct profs face tough choices.
• Convert your guzzler to a hydrogen hybrid with fuel cell kit.
• Is pre-paying for gas via price club a money saver?
• Hairdressers feel gas price pinch. [Random Casualty Dept.]
• Cabbies too. [More Obvious Dept.]
• Smart-growth planners: see, we told you so
• Forget home brewing; how about home ethanol production?
• Wyoming to $4 a gallon!
• More on Hummers: devotees still love ‘em but less get ‘em.
• On rising gas costs: one socialist’s view (warning: crazy long).
• Very hot women: Lake Havasu is worth the gas money [with pic].
• Airline gas problems continue: 480 layoffs at AirTran.

This Just In: Gas & Country Featured on NBC Nightly News (No, Not Our Blog…Our Premise)

The second lead story on tonight’s NBC Nightly News, filed by Mike Taibbi, was a survey of the ways in which the rising cost of gas is changing life in America.  In other words, everything we’re blogging about.

We might just be onto something here….

Update: they just closed out the broadcast with a second story about another consequence of rising fuel costs: more scooters.  Michael Okwu reported that folks are switching to scooters from cars and that scooter sales rose 25% in the past three months.

Today’s Headlines

• Rural volunteer firefighters can’t afford gas to respond to fires.
• Garbage trucks guzzle gas; pickups getting costlier [No Shit Dept.]
• More bike cops: departments adopting gas-saving police strategies.
  
• Say it with flowers an e-card: florists raise delivery rates.
• Idiot: hotel GM sez gas = “outstanding opportunity” for staycation.
• Truckers reeling: 1000 companies close, indy drivers operate at loss.
• Less cops: Montana police use money for gas instead of new hires.
• Yellowstone has record June, but did folks book before gas soared?
• Gas prices spark entrepreneurial fuel innovators into action.
• Okay, so not all boaters are boating as much as they used to.
• Crazy talk: will folks skip a storm evacuation because of gas prices?
• NYT dissects the $100 tank of gas story; poor Escalade owners.

G&C Police Blotter: When Gas $uckers Attack

Readers of our first post (you three know who you are) might have caught the link to the ’sex for gas’ story, proof positive that the combination of high gas prices and criminal behavior can make for some pretty good material.

And without further adieu, we introduce you to the G&C Police Blotter. We begin today with a report out of New York about the gas prices-linked rise of a time-honored brand of petro-crime.  No, not the gas station version of the dine-and-dash, though drive-offs are on the rise too.

NYT: Elderly Face Severe Impact From Rising Cost of Gas (and Cops Are Returning to Horseback)

Following the lead of USA Today’s July 2nd coverage on the effects of soaring gas prices on fixed income seniors (as well a cover story about how fuel costs are affecting rural towns), The New York Times puts up almost 1600 words on the subject.  The news is pretty damn near heartbreaking.

Basically, agencies that provide essential help to home bound seniors, such as Meals on Wheels and visiting health care, are finding that the cost of gas is forcing them to make significant cuts in service.  Agencies that rely on volunteers, especially those who pay for their own gas, are being particularly hard hit.

And, of course, it’s not just volunteer services that are being forced to make gas price-induced changes: